Ryan at the start

Cathy Holden writes:

Fifteen year old Ryan Saxby, a Year 10 pupil at Courtmoor School, had a close shave outside KJM Salons, in the Hart Centre last Saturday.  His shoulder length locks were shaved off to raise money for Fleet Pond Society’s ‘Clearwater Campaign’.

Ryan’s supporters watched as Brooke-Ellen Collins, of KJM Salons, applied the clippers and proceeded to give Ryan a number one cut.

Brooke-Ellen Collins finishing off the shave

Afterwards, Ryan said: ‘Beforehand I was kind of nervous, but now, having looked in the mirror I’m shocked at the transformation! ’

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society said, whilst watching the event: ‘Ryan’s an enthusiastic supporter of the Fleet Pond Society, regularly joining our work parties on Conservation Sunday’s and in the school holidays. He is doing a brave thing for the Clearwater Campaign! ’

Kerry Mather, Brooke-Ellen Collins and Ryan Saxby

Mandy Saxby, Ryan’s Mum, had arranged the day with KJM Salons: ‘We are very grateful to Kerry Mather, Manager of KJM Salons in the Hart Centre.  She very kindly donated the time of apprentice hairdresser Brooke-Ellen Collins, as well as the chair and the clippers.  Brooke-Ellen has done a fantastic job.’

Smooth-headed Ryan being appreciated by his sister, Lauren, and mother Mandy

Many Saturday shoppers stopped to offer Ryan support by popping money in his sponsorship pot.  It is not too late to sponsor him and if you would like to do so please visit www.charitygiving.co.uk/closeshave.

The Clearwater Campaign is organised by Fleet Pond Society in order to increase public awareness and raise money towards restoring Fleet Pond.  Silt has caused a serious deterioration of the Pond’s water quality.

For further information on the Clearwater Campaign, please visit www.fleetpondsociety.co.uk or search for a variety of articles on this blog eg Chris Packham At Fleet Pond.

Picture credits: David Pottinger

Further photos of the event are available on Flickr – see here.

Ryan Saxby (above) is one of our volunteers and he’s very committed to Fleet Pond and it’s conservation.

So much so that he’s volunteered to have his hair cut off to raise money for the Fleet Pond Clearwater Campaign!

If you are in Fleet tomorrow morning (Saturday 16th June), please call by and support Ryan.

The head shaving will take place outside KJM Salons (next to Waitrose) in the Hart Centre at 11:00 am.

If you would like to sponsor Ryan, please visit: www.charitygiving.co.uk/closeshave

Fleet Pond Society’s (FPS) entry was awarded second place in the Walking Category of the Grand Procession of Fleet Carnival, held last Saturday, 2nd June.

A full selection of pictures showing the trip of the ‘FPS sail boat and crew’ from start to finish of the procession can be found on Flickr at Fleet Carnival 2012.

Finally, here’s a picture of the winning entry in the walking category – a very imaginative one from Fleet Library, many congratulations!

Picture credits: David Pottinger

More photos on Flickr here.

More post and rail fencing is planned for the volunteer event this Sunday.

However the long Bank Holiday may have delayed the order and delivery of the top rails. If the rails arrive in time we can press on with the task.

If the rails do not arrive, we can do some stream repairs on Gelvert Stream and repairs to the vandalised rails we put in at the last task (in May).

In addition, we plan to conduct a survey of visitors.  The survey should ideally be conducted for about an hour, two at most, and be at high use points like the car park, Sandy Bay and Chestnut Grove.

The objective of the survey is to show just how popular the Pond is. This will help support applications for funds from new developments in Fleet and Hart in general, if we can show that people visit from a wide area.

Planning The Posts And Rails

The volunteer event for May involved post and rail fencing. This time it was around the Sandhills area to protect the bluebell banks from trampling and erosion. As you can see, it was a beautiful day!

Sandhills is south of the picnic site not far from the cattle corral on Coldstream Marsh. Please see the map in About above for further clarification.

Start Of The Day

It’s Trickier Than You Think….

Ryan Saxby (above) is one of our volunteers and he’s very committed to Fleet Pond and it’s conservation. So much so that he’s volunteered to have his hair cut off to raise money for the Fleet Pond Clearwater Campaign!

If you are in Fleet on Saturday 16th June, please call by and support Ryan – the head shaving will take place outside the KJM Salons in the Hart Centre at 11:00 am.

If you would kindly like to sponsor Ryan, please visit: www.charitygiving.co.uk/closeshave